We entered with dread but were welcomed by professionally relaxed security.

It's a measure of how far Belfast has come that, at the Top 50 entrepreneur awards, we had no idea what party or even community speakers represented! George Quigley was a popular winner with his campaign for an all-Ireland corporation tax rate of 12.5%. I suggested they should target a 0% rate and later compromise with Gordon Brown. After all, the Republic had no manufacturing tax for a generation backed by generous grants.

Northern Ireland wants to work and will help Ireland as a whole maintain competitiveness. Aer Lingus is an early beneficiary. But the legacy of state subvention, discrimination and division run deep. Most nominated entrepreneurs had modest visions, like the 'For Cod and Ulster' chip-shop offering 'King Billy's feast for �16.90' . . . there's one price that won't inflate!

How different things were in the 19th century, when Belfast was the original Celtic Tiger: a world leader in shipbuilding, rope making and linen. In the economic context of Home Rome, Ulster industrialists understandably protected their market access.

But now prosperity lies in integrating with the rest of Ireland and Europe. Attitudes quietly change: We drove around East Belfast for a while before finding UDA murals and tatty Ulster flags.

The roads used to improve when you crossed the border. Now the southern stretch is smoother, and our tyre blew-out near Banbridge!

When Fianna Fail plans to organise in the North, it seems that unity is coming.

The Loyalist community helped decapitate a 17th century king. It faced down the British Army and Parliament in 1912. Their real loyalty is to the half-crown.

We laugh at the Chinese for trying to censor the internet . . . they cannot recognise a real revolution! But are we similarly myopic about the revolutionary impact of technology?

The international music establishment performs hakas to intimidatef its customers! It sued, among others, a 12-year-old and a 66-year-old granny. A US jury recently awarded punitive damages of 80 times the average European settlement against a youngster for making her music available over the web.

The Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA), gears up to prosecute illicit music downloaders by tracking Irish people who engage in music file sharing over the web . . . at least by civil suits against 'serial uploaders' . . . though they also threaten to enforce criminal fines of 1,900 per track or 12 months in jail. IRMA's objective is to terrorise punters through high-profile convictions.

Shouldn't the music industry adapt to change rather than suing its customers?

How can they build consumer relationships by confiscating hard-drives?

Why not seek new ways to make money from music . . . such as customised CDs or live performances on the internet? Downloading offers opportunities to cross-sell and seduce prospective fans . . . say by offering freebies to entice them back. How can they develop relationships if they don't trust consumers?

Piracy isn't new . . . just the technology: iPods can carry 10,000 tracks. Would you spend 10,000 to download songs? The internet zaps transaction costs and frustrates efforts at control.

Devices could be sold with music and films pre-loaded.

Consumers call the shots, since the technology is cheap and easily used.

For all the hype, internet piracy will not destroy music.

Cassette tapes did not kill music. Free TV does not stop cable and Sky.

Gaelic bards had no copyright protection. Jonathan Swift published Gulliver's Travels because he was infuriated at the corrupt copies circulating. Music will be created and enjoyed even if record company profits are cut.

File-sharing is the radio of the future . . . expanding the potential market.

Innovators are rarely frustrated by legal tactics. There will always be loopholes. The establishment can attack rivals . . . but attacking consumers quickly loses support.

Past free-to-air skirmishes with Sky suggest that politicians will bend strict legal positions to indulge populism.

IRMA and its fellow bullies have the law on the side . . . but not public policy or common sense. Cars are built capable of driving faster than legal speed limits . . . not because of the need to accelerate past trucks but because customers demand them.

The reactionaries are too late: Digital downloading changed how we enjoy and distribute music. Innovation depresses the value of yesterday's technology.

Platitudes about protecting artists' property conflicts with corporate disdain for the same artists. Having a valid legal case is often the least important business strength. In marketing what matters is public legitimacy and vulnerability.

The car industry offers a precedent: Irish-American Henry Ford sought to revolutionise the auto industry by driving costs down so that the middle classes could afford cars. The industry sought to use restrictive patents to maintain high prices and limit cars to the luxury market. They refused Ford a licence to use their patent. At first Ford seemed snookered. But when the cartel attacked consumers who wanted to buy affordable cars . . . public opinion forced a change in the law. After eight years the courts restrictively interpreted the patent to apply only to obsolete technology. Public sentiment had won over legal argument.

The same will happen with music downloading. Every time an old fogey blocks innovation, some teenager will circumvent it. File-sharing will stay free because it also distributes material outside copyright. No legal ramparts can halt progress.